Coffee, Chaos, and Connection: Setting Intentions for the New Year

In this episode of Unleashed Moms, we’re kicking off 2025 with reflections on the past five years—covering everything from fertility struggles, mini-farm life, and moving to Texas, to launching businesses and building communities. We share how motherhood shaped us, how coffee keeps us going, and what’s next for the new year. 

From exploring San Antonio’s coffee scene to creating meaningful experiences with our kids, we’re setting intentions (not resolutions) to make 2025 a year full of connection, adventure, and growth.

Tune in for honest stories, relatable chaos, and tips for tackling the new year with purpose—and, of course, coffee!

Follow Us on Instagram: @alexandria.and.leesha
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Transcript

Wildlings Unleashed (00: 0:00

02.991) Hello everyone, happy new year. Happy 2025. We are in 2025 and it has been an absolute doozy. I mean, 2025 has it, getting here has, yeah. Getting here to 2025 has been- We didn't think we were gonna make it. Nope, we really did not think we were going to make it at all. And we're just going to do a little recap of the end of the year so you guys can kind of wrap your heads around the chaos that we have Yeah, we haven't seen each other. And basically over a month, like really. Yeah. So we went to Arizona for Thanksgiving, which we have talked about. when we got back, apparently there was people sick at Thanksgiving here. Yeah. And then it worked its way through the, all of the families. Yeah. Well, first I think at Thanksgiving, we had just gotten kind of on the better side, the girls were on, my girls ended up going to the doctor and getting antibiotics and stuff or walking pneumonia. Right. Yeah. The week after when we got home. Yeah. We were sick before Thanksgiving. Larry was sick at Thanksgiving and got quarantined, but obviously not well enough because we all got what he got. Yep. The flu. We all got the flu. And, but first my girls had ear infections in walking pneumonia prior to Thanksgiving. Yeah, and so they were on antibiotics. My twins were. And then Logan got the flu first in my family. And 103 plus degree fevers. I ended up taking her to the ER because I was like, what is going on? And her fevers would not go down. And they were like, she's got the flu. Ran the test, rapid test. And I was like, well, at least I know it's nothing like horrible, I guess, because those were some high fevers. Yeah. Yeah, and then. Delilah got sick. She was home for I think one or two days. And then you and Jesse got sick at the same time. And Jesse was out of work for a whole entire week. I was, Cody ended up having to come hang out with me. Basically. Yeah. Because I was just out. I had 103 degree fevers too. But Jesse usually never, when he's sick, he usually is like doing home projects. Like he'll stay home from work, but like he'll do home projects. And this one was like, we were, he was like laid out, just done.

Wildlings Unleashed (02: 0:05

24.006) awful. It was so bad. And then, my gosh, yeah, we literally didn't see each other for a while. I was supposed to go to Houston with my mom. My mom had been sick for two weeks. party thing. Yeah. She was sick for like a solid two weeks. And then I got started to get sick and I was sick for like real sick for like four days and then started to get better. But the exhaustion lasted another week and a half, two weeks later. So that would bring us to like the week before. Not even, like the week before Christmas break and Christmas. So basically we've been sick for six weeks. Yeah. Yeah. And like, I swear my family is just constantly sick since we moved to Texas. Like, we just are getting used to all the new germs, I guess still. I don't know, but we are always sick and it's, it's been a struggle, but this last month, what really kicked my whole family's butt. And it was hard because it was like the holiday season and we just didn't get to do what we normally do and you guys ain't gonna do what you normally did. We have to do like almost nothing. I felt so bad because like we have our advent calendar where we're supposed to like do all these special things and we only did like a fraction of them and it was only the ones that I could muster together enough energy to pull through for. And then some of them, like remembered them. And then like when I started feeling better, did like a whole day's worth of activities to try and make up for it. Yeah, I feel so bad. But like this month was just such a whirlwind like between doctor appointments for me and the girls with the antibiotics and then Logan with having to get antibiotics also for a really bad air infection after the flu. And then, Cody didn't get hit sick somehow. somehow he did. Jameson really didn't either. He had a day where I let him stay home, but Delilah was home the day before. And so I think he just wanted a break day, which we regularly talk about. Like if you need a break day, you don't have to be sick. Like you just need to say, you know, I just need a break day, whatever. He stayed home. really needed one. And he was 100 % fine. So he went back the next day.

Wildlings Unleashed (04: 0:10

30.182) And then even your mom came, your mom came and your mom got sick. Yeah, but she, think, I think she had the flu also. Yeah. But I don't think she got it from us because we all like were, it was several days before we usually had symptoms. Yeah. So, and I like sanitized and aired out and like washed everything in my house. Cause I was like, we're not getting her sick, but everyone has the flu right now. Cause you know, they prescribe Tamiflu I think is what it's called when you go in, you get the flu. Logan got prescribed that because it was so bad with the viewers and stuff for her. And I went to go try and get the prescription so we could just have it in case she needed it. You could not get it. I went to six pharmacies. All of them were out of stock. I was like, wow, that is kind of awful. First off, they weren't prepared obviously, but yeah, like everyone is getting it. Well, that last week of... school for the kids, I'm trying to recall, because it's been so chaotic. And just exhaustive. We made it to Zoo Lights. Yeah. And so that was where we had finally everybody was feeling good enough. Ish. I know it wiped me out. I was a few days past feeling better, but I still like- mom was like right at the start of Your mom was at the start. was like, she was a true proof of incoming. It was like my cough was getting bad. Your cough was bad because it was cold, like colder that day. it was just... Yeah, by the time the sun dropped down, it dropped down to like 50, I think, or 56 or something like that. Yeah. We want to touch on the ZooLight experience a little bit because I have thoughts about it. We're compliment sammaging it because we do love the zoo. We do we have memberships We'll start there. We have memberships. We love the memberships and we also have the unlimited carousel rides, which the kids thoroughly enjoy It's like 20. Don't even like blink at the little tiny investment because it's so worth it Yeah, the first time we went after getting it. I made the kids go on it like four times Yeah, and they were like we don't want to and i'm like no you need to get at least half of these

Wildlings Unleashed (06: 0:15

36.497) But yeah, they definitely got their money's worth out of it. But the the Zulights in general, I would say they could have done some things a little bit better. They did have some really cool vendors that were out, like the drink vendor and the smore. They had a s'mores like vendor thing. And they got some fun game things going on, like the gift game. Yeah, they did. The five dollar gift box thing. And the kid area was fantastic. It's always fantastic over there. For any event they do. They love it. There was bubbles, music, a jump thing. We don't even know what it really was, but the kids waited in line and they loved it. Giant snowmen and they had Santa over there in the little barn. The kids did not. They didn't want to see Santa. But I would say they should have closed down some of the outskirts part of the zoo because they was so dark. didn't decorate it and there was no music playing. like back by the drafts, we kind of went the whole path of the zoo. Yeah. So like if they kind of should have closed off like where the hippos are. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Because you wouldn't really go over there if you didn't go. would be no reason. There's no there was no reason to they should have just closed it off because there was no lights, no music. There was like two photo ops back there. guess late things. But even like you go through that spot, like you go through the hippo thing, which is always lighted and that was fine. But then when you go over to like where the bird enclosure is pitch black. Yeah, and we were like, I think a couple of us tripped in there too. Yeah, because you can't see. was no lights at all. No lights at all. They should have had the, I was surprised it was open. They should have had those doors locked. The main part of the zoo, like the, where the bats are and the flamingos and then what's Like where the carousel is and the water, the big water area. Just that main. was great. The lights that were there were really great. I loved the light tunnel on the other side. That was super pretty. thing that was right before the light tunnel. Yeah. That was by the carousel, I think. But yeah, they could have definitely, I've been to one other Zoo Lights in Washington several years ago that we found out that Alex told me that they pay additional than the membership. like San Antonio, you have the membership included and you can just go.

Wildlings Unleashed (08: 0:20

49.315) And it's also included with just normal tickets to here. So like it's not only just part of the membership for free entrance, but it's also, if you buy a zoo ticket, you get access to that. Because it's just part of their normal times. The one in Washington, it's an after hours thing. So even members don't get that for free. It's like a discount. Yeah. But that one was like extra spectacular. And so when I went to this one, was like, it's just not, I don't know. I mean, funding is different too, when you consider that. You get the extra stuff. But we were all feeling good and we got to go. It was so nice The kids hadn't seen each other in forever and so they were really excited to see each other. It was a half day for the kids that day. I was literally bouncing off the walls so excited to get out of the house. Even though I was tired and still coughing and stuff, I was like, we're gonna get out. We're leaving the house. So yeah, that's kind of the one holiday thing that we got to do. Yeah, we usually do. mean, you guys, if you wanted to, you could go back in our Instagram feed and you can see how extra we can be during this month. Like we do lots of activities and cooking and baking and just lots of family gatherings. Yeah, when the kids are out of school, before they're out, I usually try to collect. the 12 days of ornaments, which I think you picked one up, but I didn't get out to get one. I didn't pick one up because you didn't get it from Target usually. And this year they changed it. It was 25 days of ornaments. It was an entire month and it was like $30. The point was tripled then. And I was like, usually it's like 10. Yeah. So I was like, uh, I mean the price when you price it, I was like, it's not bad, but I, if I wanted to get one for each of the girls, I was like, that's too much. Well, and I, so I normally get that. didn't get that this year. I usually get gingerbread houses and I did and we set up and we made the gingerbread houses and then the dogs ate two of them. Everything but Jesse's. Everything but Jesse's. Yeah. we did gingerbread houses too. That was one of the few things on our advent calendar that I was able to be like, we need to do it. Jameson did go through all of our Christmas books. Like we have the search and find books and we have a couple of puzzles, that was like it. I don't even, I don't know. but

Wildlings Unleashed (11: 0:25

07.649) Yeah, it's been an interesting end of the year. It's been a struggle December and end of November, really. Yeah. We did have a good Christmas, though. It was good. I think we had fun and we pulled it together, like, somehow. Right. Yeah, because I was ahead on gifts and everything. And you were like, I haven't even done shopping. And then you got sick. And so then like we were trying to like go to the store for you and pick up stuff. And then I got sick. And so then you and my mom were like finishing up stuff for me. It was, I'm telling you, it was like, don't even know how we got, I how we did it. It was, it was a, not the typical art. It was so unplanned. And I mean, we pulled it together, but it was just so like, not how we usually do things. Cause neither of us are last minute or zone stuff like that. And even gifts for me, like as soon as like December rolled in as like, holy cow, I haven't done like anything. Usually I'm like finding stuff for people throughout the year and holding onto it. I totally dropped the ball. Just nothing really was like, oh, I need to get that into it for me. But definitely. All right. So what are some of your favorite gifts that you got? Okay. I usually do top three. Yeah. But we do secret Santa. So I had, if I did top three, it'd be all three of my gifts. Yeah. Which I did love all three of them. But I think my top Number one is which is funny because my mom it's from my mom and she was like, I got it on a whim But I don't know if you're gonna know what it is or if you're gonna like it as you can hear it I'm saying it's my favorite and It's if you are familiar books, you'll probably know what I'm talking about or if you're familiar puzzles even so they make these like I think like it's like a book shelf sitter and you put it between your books and it looks like a book. But then when you look in it, it's like a scene from like, it can be a scene from a movie or it can be like an apothecary looking thing or like a Harry Potter scene or just something like that. The one I have is called magical pharmacist. So it's like an apothecary. So it's got like a desk and cats and bottles and scrolls. It's really cute. It's so cute. And it lights up and everything and it's book sized. So it's really small.

Wildlings Unleashed (13: 0:30

22.609) just slide it in there. Go on your bookshelf library. Yeah, I'll have to take a picture of it and show it to everybody. I'm kind of, I am anxious to see it when it's all done. Cause I didn't know what it was. I'm not a book person. So I was like, what, what'd get? I didn't know what it was at first because it seemed like a nondescript box. So I had to pull the plastic off. And then when it opened it, as soon as I saw what was in there, so excited. I was like, Oh my gosh, what is this? Cause I had been looking into them. But I think why it was my number one gift is not only because it's so cool, but because I got to like, build 90 % of it-ish, maybe a little less than that, with my mom. So that was kind of fun for the remainder of the time she was here. Even though she was sick, she was shrewd with me and stayed up late. We got to build this together, so that was kind of fun. We got to have some bonding time. I don't get to hang out with my mom, just me and her that much anymore because when she visits, we're all of us together. Yeah, and busy and the girls. Yeah, that is super cool. What is one of your other ones? Yeah, you know, I have a... in a second. I know we were talking about it earlier. So technically it was for my girls, but my husband got off my Amazon list. I saved a milk frother, which I know that sounds kind of silly, but when you hear it, you're going be like, that is cool. And it's for coffee. Yeah. We live and breathe coffee. So I have my own espresso machine at home because why wouldn't I? You'll hear more about that later. Yeah. And I. love it, I love making my own espresso and cappuccinos and all that stuff, macados, but I can't use the steamer on it because- Morning. Yeah, because I'm making coffee at like 6 a.m. And it screams. It screams, it's so It's really, really loud. Yeah, so the first time I stopped using it was because it was too much for the girls' ears, but then now we get up so early and I can't use it. So I had to microwave my milk and I hate that. It changes the flavor of the milk. Don't laugh, you guys. It changes the flavor of the milk for me. So they got me a frother and you put the milk in it and it heats it and frosts it and it can do like thicker foam, lighter foam, cold foam, hot chocolate. I mean, you name it, it can do it. It's amazing. Yeah. It sounds like it is really cool. I had an espresso machine for a short time and then I was like, that's too much work for me. Yeah. Plus you really like your brewed coffee. I do. I had no problem with my just regular brewed coffee.

Wildlings Unleashed (15: 0:35

46.979) I didn't mind my brewed coffee after I had Logan, because was like, whatever, it's caffeine. But then I got a cheapie espresso machine. was like a Mr. Coffee one. It was like 80 bucks or something for it. And I was like, now this is where it's at. changer. Yeah, and then I upgraded when we moved to Texas to the espresso machine I have now. And I love it. All right. So one of my favorite gifts is the one my husband got me, which he was showing everybody that came to my house what it was before Christmas. And he was such a brat about it. Cause he was like, Alex comes over and he's like, do you want to see the gift I got Alicia? And I'm like, in front of her. Yeah. I'm like, whatever. But I did save him money. So it's a good thing he showed me. Yeah. Yeah. He, got it at, Amazon and Costco had him cheaper. I had seen it that morning. That's so funny. And I was like, no way. just texted this to Cody because I was like, look, Costco has it. So he got me a Skylight, which is like a digital family calendar. And it has so many cool features. So Skylight, think originally was the little photo frames and you could send pictures like I didn't know that's where they started because my mom used to have one of those and I almost got her the Skylight one because I saw they had one. was like, and that would be so cool because it's like an app that you load the photos into. Yeah, it is really cool. I had done some research. on them a couple months ago and I kind of was like well they they're still like evolving their platform so they have a lot of things that are like changing and upgrading and it's really cool. are yeah and I can see why but I still love the thing it's so we've had it set up for this week um and so it has our calendars color coded And so it just imports from my Google calendar over and you can see everyone's schedule and then it has chores. So I can put the kids' chores or routines in there and reward program. And then you can assign stars for rewards and then they can pick rewards that they want. And then it will have a meal calendar. And then in the app, it has like an AI feature where you can be like, you want meals for so many days for this many people. And then you can tell it like what groceries you do have.

Wildlings Unleashed (18: 0:40

07.075) Yeah, it is. It wasn't that much for the whole year though. For that first, a lot of the features. it without the subscription? You can, but it's pretty basic. Maybe that's why people work It was like $40 a year. that's really like It's super cheap. That's like nothing. Yeah. So, but the AI feature is really cool because we have like some ground venison and ground pork. gosh. I have an entire stand-up freezer full. of meat. I know. So I mean, you can replace it for beef. But so I put in there that we that's what meats we had and like chicken. And it gave me a whole meal plan with like ground venison and pork meatloaf. I just love that you get to be my guinea pig for this because I was so on the fence after Koi was telling me how much he looked into it and the reviews and stuff. like, well, I know I kind of landed there too. So when I opened it and I was like, OK, well, like this is my chance to actually check it out. And so I was kind of indifferent at first. And I was like, I don't know. But now that I have it set up, the kids so far, like I said, we've had it set up for a week, but they have been pretty good about their chores and it's right on the kitchen counter. So every time I walk by, I'm like, hey kids, you need to do your chores. If you want your rewards, you have to do it. And I can load in one-time chores. after... New Year's last night we had like garbage in the backyard because we had a fire and everybody over and fireworks and just random stuff that needed to be cleaned up. So I threw it on the chore list and so then like Jameson went out and cleaned everything up and got five stars which is normal like more than what their chores are. you use it for like routines do you think? They're coming out with a routines thing. like right now I have their routine stuff on there and I do different stars for like their chores have more stars and then their routines get one star. And then if it's extra stuff, I'll give them more. Do you have to assign a star for routines? No. Okay. I just was curious because I think that like that would be so helpful for Logan for like bedtime and wake up time. Like she needs to do XYZ before school and she needs to do XYZ before. You can set times for the chores too. And then it will tell you when they're late. There's definitely things they can improve, but their customer service is amazing.

Wildlings Unleashed (20: 0:45

20.003) Yeah, like they're they have a Facebook group and people are in there all the time and there's a couple like moderators that Will be like they have guides in there So they'll walk you through like how to do something and then they have where you can like turn in a feature That you think should be and then they'll like they actually look at that cool and then they'll have people like vote on it I don't know. might buy this with my next paycheck. It's it's really cool. I mean, I could probably talk on that for long time. So if y'all have any questions, send us a DM on Instagram, because I'll answer and let you know firsthand what I'm experiencing. Yeah, or even just be like, hey, keep me updated on this. if you guys are interested, we can have Leisha give you guys a month update out or something. Yeah. It's been really interesting. It's been cool. So far, it's been helpful. So we'll see. I learned about this guy. I feel like it was two years ago, because I was here. But we had just moved here. So it must have been about two years ago. I was like, that's really cool because I had seen some influencer was sharing about it I was like, but is it actually cool? Cause you know, influencer stuff. and then they kind of being just keeping an eye on it. So when he said he got that for you after I had just seen that Costco was like, yeah, I would say if, you're not a techie and you don't have patience for tech, not an item for you. Or if you don't have patience for like calendar set up too, cause some people are not big, you know, like organized calendar. took me a while to get it set up cause there's color coding and this, way it inputs it. But like I said, and everything's changing all the time. Like you're always putting and rolling out new updates. So if that's something frustrating to you, I don't think that I would recommend it. Just right off the bat, me having it for a week and experiencing setting it up and just what I've read in the group and stuff. But you can join the Facebook group before you have one because it asks you in the questions because then you can do research. You can see what like people are talking about and the problems or what's clear, what's not clear, what's coming out. kind of those things and I did that first and then kind of was like gonna wait but it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. Yeah, I was because of how inexpensive it was at Costco compared to other places I was like maybe I should just buy it and then worst case scenario if I hate it I can bring it back because it's Costco right? And then Jesse got it for you and I was like now I get to have Leisha try it out and we can be like how is it and I can play with hers a little bit but.

Wildlings Unleashed (22: 0:50

40.269) It looks really cool. It's been sitting on her counter and I've just been like, Ooh, so pretty. I'll have to let you play with it more. so it is, it is pretty cool thing. the other thing that you got me, cause you had me for secret Santa is a gift card for pop stroke, which we've been wanting to go to. So eventually we'll probably get together a date night of couples and go and get to, we'd be so fun. Check that out. I'm super excited to go and check that out. Yeah. I had you for a Secret Santa as well. And I was like, what do I get, Leisha? And I was like, usually, if I have you, I like to do something that gets you out, you know? But I had to split it, because I knew you needed your small woods pictures I love my small woods too, and I'm so excited about that. I have asked for small woods, I think, for three gift cards, which are canvas printed or- They're like wood. Yours are wood, right? Mine are wood. Yeah, I was like pretty sure there I think they're canvas with a frame. Are they? think they are. I thought they were full wood. I don't remember. But anyways, they're the small woods printed wood or canvas. They look like canvas. You double check before you order. I know I will. But I have two rows of them in my hallway for a gallery wall and I've been needing another row or two. And so last Christmas I got a gift card and now this Christmas I got a gift card. I think I have enough for those two rows now. I was like, I'm just going to get it first so she can just do it. Well, when someone asked me, I think it was probably my mom and she was like, What do you want as like small gift cards and firebrand because we went all out on firebrand this year anyway. I was not going to get you firebrand. I know I was not going to get you firebrand because I was like no, no way. Um, but yeah. So now, and my mom was like, no, we got you that last year. I'm like, but that's what I'm asking for. That's what I want. Yeah. So I, I knew I

Wildlings Unleashed (24: 0:55

29.197) I kind of know what you want. And I did consider the facial thing, but after talking to you a little bit more, was like, well, she hasn't picked a place. And then I was like, there's no way. I was like, unless you had like a I'm so picky. Yeah. That's why I was like trying to figure out like, do you have a spot? Like, but you didn't. No, I'm just picky. Yeah. But yeah, I think we had a good Christmas. think the kids got, my kids got pretty much everything on their Christmas list. Logan did not get everything on her Christmas list, but she did get. her big item from Santa, which was a doll house, which fits perfectly under her bed. did it? Yeah. I didn't even ask where you guys put it. I should have, cause it's huge. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I don't know where the heck that thing's going. It's really big, but she loves it. Every night before bed, she goes in there and she plays dolls and we play dolls sometimes and she just loves it. And then the girls got their balance bikes. They love those too. They were on them the whole day on Christmas. If there's a toddler, like toy, activity item I would recommend it's a hundred percent the little balance bikes. Yeah. I probably made it sound like my kids got like a ton of gifts. They were really conservative with their Christmas list this year. Which they I feel like Delilah particularly usually is like last year she asked for uniform clothes. Yeah she does because we and we've talked about before but we do the need want read and where? Need want. want, wear and read. You just said it backwards. I I always do. But yeah, so they, I mean, they just had a small, they had like five or six gifts. I don't know. Logan had to make her Christmas list while she was sick with the flu. Oh. And so she was like, I want an American flag shirt, like what dad's wearing right now. It's like, you need to go back to sleep. But the dollhouse, she had been consistently asking for for a couple months. And then same with like a Barbie car, which she also got. And then she had some things, like she was very practical. Like she wanted markers and colored pencils and like new paper. And so she just wanted like restock on stuff that I probably would just get her anyways.

Wildlings Unleashed (26: 1:00

32.645) And then like red sweater for school. Yeah. So funny. These kids. Yeah. So our Christmas was really good. And then we, because it's been so chaotic of a year, we kind of like threw together very last minute, a small get together for new years. Yeah. Jesse called Cody like two hours before we came over. He was like, you guys come in? I was like, I didn't think we had plans together. I know we were doing anything. So yeah, we got together and. Alex, she was like, well, if I come, I'm bringing the fun and brought, uh, cause I didn't have anything. I just, it just got away from me. I was like, okay, we're going to do this for years because we don't have anything. so we did a balloon drop. a balloon drop. had the stuff and I was like, I knew you had extra balloons. Yeah. I always had balloons and I'm getting low now. The girls love to come over and get into the party stuff. Logan's got me restocking us almost all the time now. Um, and so now. Today is the first, we actually don't normally record this soon to our release date. We're doing a quick turnaround. Yeah, we're be like recording, editing. Yeah, and so we've kind of been reflecting on this coming year.

Wildlings Unleashed (27: 1:03

45.505) And we want to do a recap of the last four or five years since we were in 2025 and kind of take a look back at all the way back to 2020. And to how like things that we did or how life was different. And then what we have in mind for this coming year. Like intentions for the new year. So a little into that first, we're go back to 2020, which seems like a random timeframe probably because we feel like it's kind of a good insight into how our families are the way that they are kind of thing. More into our lives and where we came from. We've talked a lot about like the last two years. years. Like since we like a year and a half. Yeah, since we got here to Texas. So like our combined. Yeah. Yeah. But. But so yeah, we think that would be kind of fun because We lived two hours-ish apart back in Washington. So some of this time will be Washington. Some of it will be when Leisha moved to Texas and I was still in Washington. So it'll be kind of a fun reflection. Plus it will be time when I was trying to get pregnant and it will be time when we were doing huge things. huge things and they were doing huge things. Yeah. We're literally gonna, I'm gonna scroll back on my phone. I already got my phone. Do you have your phone ready? So we're scrolling back to January of 2020 and we're just gonna kind of like breeze through the photos and kind of call out different things that spark our memory, I guess. And like go through. What I've got for literally January 3rd, 2020 is that we were still rehabbing our home. So you guys bought this house on two acres? Almost two acres. Almost two acres. they basically stripped the entire house. Okay, so the house was built, it was a one owner home. He bought the property blank and built this house and he bought like a blueprint and then just did it himself, I think. So, but the house hadn't been touched since and it was built with like some low grade material like the kitchen was laughable. And it's, but there was so much potential in that home and lucky for me, my husband is very handy and

Wildlings Unleashed (30: 1:08

00.705) His stepdad Larry is also a contractor and he can do like mockups of homes and stuff, architecturally and stuff. So I got to rip out an entire house, basically. Found lots of termite damage, lots of- It was like one thing after another. Yeah, and I got to the point where I was like, quit opening walls. Yeah, don't open anymore. Yeah, but I did get to, it was so fun to build my own kitchen. I think that was like the most notable thing of the rehab for me was that I literally got to design my own kitchen, which was incredibly fun. And I still miss that kitchen. Obviously I built, like I did design that basically with the help of Larry. And it was just the best. It was my favorite part of that whole house. It was a really small home, but we bought- The rooms are outside a lot though. Yeah, we spent like all the time outside. was the kitchen or outside basically. Because our rooms were small. It was a really small house. It was like- not even 1200, it was like 1100 square feet, 11 something. It was really small. But we had two acres of property and we ended up getting like many horses, many horse, many donkey, chickens. We have our three dogs. We ended up, our neighbor had a horse who we would let stay on our property. So we basically had a horse too. And then we had talked about goats but we didn't end up doing that before we moved. But. I know we had a lot of fun at the house. bought it while we were living with your parents, because we had been looking for a house for a long time. And Cody was like, I'm going to find a house with property. was like, I don't know if you're going to do that in this market. And lo and behold, he did. He it for less than asking. yeah. Rehabbed it, which that's why we were able to get for less than asking is because no one could get the financing for it. I don't even know how we got the financing for it. Because like we, I don't even know. And it was probably, it was. I think that was just such a cool experience though to do that with a home and then build this whole farm lifestyle basically. So that is one thing that we had in common because I did live about two hours north in Stanwood, Washington and we had a little mini farm also. So we had a huge chicken coop and at one time I think we had almost 20 chickens. I think we had like 16 and then we kind of, I think

Wildlings Unleashed (32: 1:13

21.793) you guys ended up taking them because I was like done with the chickens. Yeah, we did. I love the chickens. I loved getting eggs. The kids loved gathering eggs, but the chickens were not my favorite. But I had a mini pig and she was my absolute dream animal, which she used to be mine. Yes. Yeah. That's a whole story too. Yeah, that was pre 2020. Well, yeah. At that point she in 2020 she was four. Yeah. She had been with you for I'd had her saying, yeah. Cause just showed up with her. And she was tiny when you guys got her. to me all the time. She was a baby. He does that to me. Literally. I'll like barely think, you know, mini pigs are so cute. Pig on my doorstep next day. Literally. And I'm like, where did you even get this thing? Where do you even find a mini pig? Yeah, but she was the sweetest. I was so happy that she got to live on your property. Cause we didn't have property at the time either when he brought this pig home. Well, and I, I got to baby, you guys got her and then I babysat her for you guys did something. I think we went out of town because I think my mom stayed at my house and babysat my dogs and took many up to you. but that was my absolute favorite, favorite animal that I have ever, ever, ever, ever had, but I would never own another one. They're high maintenance. It would not be the same. I don't feel like I just absolutely adored her. Yeah. there's just some animals that kind of ruin you. for getting another one. I had a pet bunny that Cody tried to fill the hole when that one got, she escaped. I was like, I'm not ready. Like I just need time to like get over it. And then he brought him two other bunnies and I just could not connect with them. Took care of them. Could not connect with them for the life of me. So that I'm scrolling through like. 2020. Yeah, I know. We did swim lessons with Logan. was like, she was, she had to be 11 months in January because when we moved into our rehab home, it was February and she turned one in March. So she was like 11 ish months, I think in January. lessons for you. Yeah. that summer of 2020. So we moved to Texas in November of 2020.

Wildlings Unleashed (34: 1:18

38.017) So that last summer we had in Washington, did, I swear we did everything. We did, we had kayaks, we lived right across the street from a lake. And so we would go out in the kayaks all the time. We went and camped in Wenatchee, Washington for, I don't know, I think we went there like three times. The kids absolutely loved it. We did crabbing. We used to go crabbing in Washington all the time. Looks like. Yeah, we drove up with Logan when she was, I'm trying to remember if we were in the house yet or not. And we took her out on the boat to do crabbing too. Yeah, a lot of people got to go out on the boat. it was just like a little dinghy. It was, it was seriously probably not. Yeah, I was like, say boat, but I want you to picture it correctly. It was very small. It was a dinghy. It's probably not the safest thing. Oh, we got Simba. 20? that's why I'm always like they're Logan and him are like, okay. Yeah, Jameson and Tom are a year apart also. Yeah, so we got Simba and he is our Malinois German Shepherd mix and he's strong in Malinois even though he's supposedly like not even 10 percent. He is like all those traits came through. So if you know what a Malinois is, you know what I'm talking about. But we got him and him and Logan, thick as thieves. Like she would lay on him like a and you follow her around up and down the field. It was just so cute. Just such a cute bond. In August of 2020 is when we flew down to San Antonio to check it out. My husband was talking to the neighbor one day. Okay, so this August, September, October, so July, he was talking to the neighbor and he was like, yeah, I applied for it. He didn't tell me. He didn't tell me. He's telling the neighbor, yeah, I applied for a job in San Antonio. And I'm sitting, like standing there looking at him like, what? Well, three months later, we had sold our house, packed up and moved to Texas. You originally had thought you were trying to do Arizona. Yeah. I mean, we always would have moved to Arizona. Yeah. We always had a transfer in to go there, but it's just never happened. But yeah, he applied for a job at San Antonio and we ended up here. That's kind of, that's how that happened. Yeah.

Wildlings Unleashed (36: 1:23

57.801) We were still in Washington. We were still in Washington for a while after that. would spend, 2020 summer, we did a lot of berry picking. We did a lot of going to the river because our house was really close to the, what is that river called? The Puyallup River? No. That, I literally cannot remember what that river is called, but it goes through like Graham, Ording. Sure does. Yeah. I grew up there and was there for. It's gotta be the Puyallup River, isn't that what it's called? Make me map this out. Map it. It's a river. It's a river. Anyways, our house was really close to it. And so like there was always bald eagles and stuff over there. And we'd go down there because there was like big shallow areas. So we were raising a river baby. And we actually have the funniest photo. It's not really funny. It's just interesting of a snake and a fish. like a snake eating the fish at that river too. And I was like, that was weird. It was a really weird looking snake. Yeah, it was weird. The whole thing was weird. we got family photos right before you moved too, it looks like, cause you in 2020. So- We moved at the end of 2020. And we got some- Family photos. Yeah, and the kids were so small then. There's little babies. So I mean, five years ago, the twins weren't born and Logan was only one. Yeah. Barely. They were barely in our minds cause he started trying- to have the twins like right when we moved into our house almost, cause I was like, well, Logan turned one and I got mad baby fever. Even when the twins turned one, mad baby fever. And I had to talk myself down. Cause I was like, I don't want another pair of twins, do I? Yeah. Yeah. You're going to go from one to three to five. Yeah. We got camping in Wenatchee. You already talked about that. I've got some funny pictures of Logan eating dirt. Yup. Yeah. Oh yeah. You guys came one, one of the times. Yeah. And Logan was a hit. The girls just wanted to like adopt. Of course. Yeah. There's a whole gang of children everywhere when we go camping there. Let's see. 2020 Cody built Logan a pickler and I got to do some natural staining with that for the rainbow. Yeah. It was all natural. We did lots of horse work. Logan was around horses all the time when she was little because Cody loves horses.

Wildlings Unleashed (39: 1:28

18.329) I mean, he did drill for a long time. And then that kind of just fed into his adult life basically. And we had mini horse and he was just still in that kind of environment over there. That's zoo, we lived at the zoo, I swear. At Point Define Zoo in Washington. We would go there so often and so I knew the good timing to go when it would be empty. we'd go lay, they had this like aquarium where it domes over the top of you. And so we would just lay on the floor, me and Logan, because it's dead in there. There's nobody there. Yeah. And we would just sit there and watch the turtles and everything. It was so cool. Yeah. I have such good memories of the zoos. That's why I'm such like a big like. love the zoos. Zoos are where it's at. Yeah. Oh, Logan bit through her tongue that year. Oh, do you always tell that story? And it's so gross. So it's funny, because as horrible as it is, it's funny because she bit through her tongue and has a permanent scar like flap. And so do I, because I bit through my tongue all the way when I was a kid. So crazy. So we literally have identical Didn't one of the girls do it too? Yeah, but it didn't heal as It wasn't like that? Yeah, it wasn't as bad. It's so funny. Yeah, Logan, literally have, it's just a giant hole. So we have identical tongues now and I just think it's hilarious and I like to share it. Let's see, what else do we have going on? I don't know, where are you at in 2020? trips, I'm in September. September? Okay, I scrolled to December. Okay, yeah, we did lots of beach trips even though it's really cold in Washington. The beaches are beautiful in Oregon and Washington. Cold. But pretty. Yeah. Cold water all the time. Everything. Yeah. You don't swim in it. No. I mean, you could. Yeah. I want it. You need wetsuits. Pumpkin patches. We always went to a few pumpkin patches in October in Washington just because we had so many farms near us and a lot of them are free. We did do one though that was like paid because it was just so amazing. They like you got so much out of it.

Wildlings Unleashed (41: 1:33

31.677) I know, it's fine. Let's see. Well, we moved to San Antonio in November right before Thanksgiving, I think. Yeah, I think it was right before Thanksgiving. And then for the next couple of months, we had bought a brand new build. So we got to watch our house being built through the end of. all the pains of building. Yeah, there was some some nightmare, not like some people, though. through 20 and 21. So I have like all the building stage pictures of like every time we would come and something new was done. We really had a lot of fun. Like every Sunday we would come and drive out to the house and from our rental. But we explored so much. We went on so many drives through when we stayed in our rental when we first moved here. We drove all over so many different places and parks and we had a lot of people that came in and visited us through 21 in general. Yep, I'm into 21 now. Let's see, it looks like, I think my mom and Larry came here for Christmas that year. Did they? I don't remember. I got... Or... I got Northwest Trek, which is kind of like a zoo in Washington, except it's like a nature zoo. Yeah. I don't know how to explain Wildlife, it's the wildlife zoo. Yeah. And it's like all very natural. they didn't like, it's not like how a zoo is where it's paved and like more structured. It's very natural. the woods basically. Logan loved that one though. And it was like right next to our house. So that was nice. Oh, back in 20, at the beginning of 21. This was when, okay, so keep in mind that 21 is when COVID was happening. Texas was probably not as shut down, but Washington was. So we, Logan turned one right when that happened basically. So right when she hit one and was able to start doing stuff, we weren't able to take her out in anything. So we were very grateful. to have the property that we had. She got to experience so much stuff because of that. Like if we were in our previous house, we would have just been stuck. Yeah, yeah. And like that yard was decent, but it was just like, she got to experience horses and animals and like raising stuff and playing on quads and dirt bikes and being all the things because we had that property and it was, that was nice.

Wildlings Unleashed (43: 1:38

57.473) I just wanted to put that into perspective when we talk about these couple years is remember that this was through COVID. Washington was shut down. Texas was not as shut down, but it did have. No, we a lot of outside stuff in 2020 until we moved. Yeah. And 21, mom and Larry came and visited us the January of 21. And then we went to the natural caverns, ranch. We went up there, which is so cool. If you all have not been there, I can't believe it's been what? Three years since we've been there for. I know I've never. I've never gotten to do the wildlife thing. Oh, it's so worth it. I've done the cab. I you and your family have not done that. I I'm always like, we should do it. And then somehow we just never make it there. So worth it. So I mean, then it was I don't know what it is now. We obviously haven't been to. I it's probably pretty similar. We also went up to Waco that year. And we're going to talk a little bit more about Waco in a little bit. Yeah. Once we get through this recap. Yeah. February of twenty one. It snowed here. It was snowmageddon. Yeah. And we got to experience that. We had told our kids that we would never experience, like we would never see it snow again. we got rid of everything snow and like cold weather gear. And so they were like literally had to put socks on their hands for gloves. Yeah. So in 2021, Washington just started like changing up their protocol for closures and making like low, like small amounts of people being allowed in building kind of things. So things opened up more. So Logan turned two and we got to take her to a trampoline park, which was a big deal because she hadn't gotten to do anything like that. Okay, that's really funny because I'm literally at March of 21 and my kids went to a trampoline park. Oh, we went to a trampoline park at the same time. Yeah, so we went to the trampoline park that was literally my favorite there and celebrated her second birthday. She I found out she was a huge daredevil. I had an inkling. Yes. She was like jumping off walls, girls, crazy. And she's still pretty crazy. Like the girl just has no fear. Yeah. So that was really fun and became like a favorite.

Wildlings Unleashed (45: 1:43

53.712) That year, we did that place all the time, I swear. I should have looked into a membership to save myself some money, honestly. But it was also cool because even though the closure sucked, there was only us in the building. So that was kind of fun, because you know how busy trampoline places can be. Right before halfway point of 21, I started my custom home decor woodworking business. And I did that for a long time. I did lots of markets. I had a scroll saw and hand cut out a lot of really cool stuff. Really cool stuff. 2021, I believe is the year I got my cricket and I didn't start a business, but I was doing a lot of projects. You do a lot of shirts, a lot of shirts, a lot of graphic stuff. I hate doing shirts. I love shirts. I still love it. Like I just love the layering. So I'm not doing single. color image stuff like stickers or shirts, I was doing layered stuff. So like here's one that I made. It was like for during the little time. The drinking team one with all the colors and everything. I hate layering any of that stuff. Yeah, started dance that year also and it started an obsession. Yeah, I she just loves to dance. Ballet dancing, fancy dancing. I did a whole bunch of business logo. recreation like wood signs. I've made several of those and they were so fun to do. I did lots of markets, lots of seasonal stuff. We'll have to share. I have an Instagram page for my business called Always Be Rustic. I did a lot of- Lots of pretty stuff. Hand drawn stuff. So like kids would draw pictures and I would turn it into like a 3D wood picture and stuff. And it was so fun. I did lots of nursery signs. I really had a lot of fun doing that. We had our kayaks. We bought those when I was pregnant with Logan and back then I was living at your house because they had a lake by them. But in 2021, we spent a lot of time. Actually, we went kayaking quite a bit because we lots of lakes by our house back in Graham area in Washington. So we did a lot of that too in 2021 because Logan was just old enough to understand that to bail out. Yeah. Yeah. Like balance a little bit in it. Yeah. I loved our kayaks.

Wildlings Unleashed (48: 1:48

17.04) Yeah, I still miss those. I do too. We just don't have water like that here. Yeah. I tried eyebrow tinting for the first time in 2021. Cody cut your hair also that during that time. Yeah, it must have been 2020. Was it before? must have been right just remember. Because like all the hairdressers were shut down basically. Yeah. And he cut my hair because I, was just so, you know when like your hair gets to the point where you're like literally going to shave yourself. bald. I was at that point and I was getting headaches because it so long and I was like I just needed gone. It was all one length too because I didn't have layers at that time. Yeah. And I was like I just need gone. It's unhealthy. It's heavy. I'm going to go bald and pull a Britney Spears if we do not shave this. Get it all out of here. Yeah. So he cut my hair short like shoulder length for me. It was all one length but man it felt so much better. So much better. My mom I can't exactly pinpoint. when my mom moved down here, but she lived with us and my stepdad stayed in Washington. I think it might've been November 21. It had to be right before I got pregnant with the twins, thought. Or knew I was pregnant with the twins, maybe. I can't pinpoint exactly, but it was December of 22. Mom was here for Christmas. I thought it was- 2022 now? Almost. Yeah, I... pretty much 20, like when from the moment I moved into my house too, I was doing like a lot of family dinners and stuff with my mom, because also Cody was working second shifts too. So we were home alone at night basically. from not even noon, like earlier than noon. So from like after breakfast time on, it was just me and Logan. Cause it was just me, Logan and all the animals. So I spent a lot of time with my parents and my parents are, which we've talked about in the past, they're big foodies, they like to get out and stuff. So it was kind of great for us that we got to go do stuff with them. Even though when stuff was shut down, they would always find stuff for us to do. Kayaking, kayaking, outdoor book exploration things, stuff like that. So we did lots of fun stuff. In the dance studio that Logan was in, she was still in it.

Wildlings Unleashed (50: 1:53

32.784) We loved that dance studio. was just like a, it was like a mom that just like was a big dancer. She had property like us, built a studio and was like, I'm doing dance lessons. And cause she was a dancer and she was just fantastic. That's cool. Yeah. And she was like really close to us too, cause she was in Graham. I'm into 22 now. Did you make it there? am almost there. And 22 is when we first went to What's the name of that park? Phil Hardberger. Yeah, I was like, I know what you're talking about. Phil Hardberger, the land bridge and the skywalk. That's the first time that we went out there. And then I have. we visited you in 2021. Going backwards, sorry, August. Yeah, I must have skipped. don't know. So we, Logan was two and we. and I was honestly so anxious about this. First I was anxious, like every mother understands what I'm about to say. Flying with a kid is like one of the most. anxiety inducing things because you are just sure they're going to just lose their freaking mind and you're to be that person. We've already done an episode on flying with toddlers. So if you haven't listened to that one, it is our Disney episode. So go back and listen to it. Yeah, we highly recommend it for all the tips, all the toddler tips, particularly and to soothe your anxiety about it. But this was your first flight with just one kid, just one kid. I never done that before. And I was like, and remember COVID. Yeah. She was two, so she had to wear a mask. And they were strict about that. she, there was so many extra protocols. There just was so much extra stuff. And even in staff were on edge because of all the protocols and like getting berated by people all the time. So like, just was like, I was so terrified, but it ended up going so fantastic. I just brought lots of snacks for Logan, which was an excuse for her to have her mask down, which she honestly did really well with her mask too.

Wildlings Unleashed (52: 1:58

42.051) But it was great. She was a champ and we visited Leisha in San Antonio for, was it like a week, I think? Yeah, I think it was. And we went down to the Riverwalk. Yeah, that's how I stopped. the pool. Yeah, we did the Riverwalk. We did the pool. We did the Alamo. She took us to all the hot spots, you know? Yeah. For the millionth time for her. Yeah, I literally feel like in 21, we had a lot of visitors. That was the year we had a lot of visitors. It was your first like I think we were down at the Riverwalk like 12 times. Yeah, it was insane. Yeah, you get sick of it. We haven't been down there in a long time now, but we went so many times. I haven't been. I the last time I went was with Josh when he visits. So that was last year. Yeah. And we went to the WIT though, which I love them. I would go back to that museum in a heartbeat. That was a really cool. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really cool one. So and it's very kid friendly. So we recommend that one. That one was it was really fun. The kids enjoyed that. This was before we started wireless. So we didn't do like content. We didn't have content for it. But it was so fun and I recommend the WIT. We should take the kids back. We should. They even have like the T-Rex, the actual T-Rex bones there and then the right next it they had the dig site thing. So cool. And the outdoor, that was where they had the outdoor climbing park thing, right? Yes. That was the first- With the cold slide. The cold metal slide. The first metal slide that I seen and we were just like, why would they do a metal slide? But then it was like water cooled. Yeah, they had the little, we kept going, what? going on in the whole time right next to it. had like a description on why it was so It was so it was such a cool spot and HEB has like a health, what was that called? Oh, oh yeah. Man, I'm forget, we really do need to go back there. I know was such a cool museum. I'm always, I always am like, we need to go back. When every time my mom visits, I'm like, I want to take you there because I think she would love it. But just, you know how there's just those things you just say and then you just never get to it. But we had so much fun visiting you guys and the kids were in love with Logan. Because they hadn't seen her in a year almost. Well, no, would have been since November. Yeah, she was like one. so but Delilah had visited us. Delilah did. She had went back with my mom. Yeah, so we had a lot of fun and that was a really good.

Wildlings Unleashed (54: 2:03

56.218) positive experience for me of taking Logan on something that I was really anxious about and I was really trying hard to not put that anxiety on her, you know? But it was nice to see how she handled something like that too. And I have a husband with me, so that was nice to have a partner with that and not have to solo fly it. Let's see. We did lots of splash pads, which sounds crazy for Texans for Washington, because you guys are probably all like, that's cold, but 75 is hot there. So we did splash pads when we went back, some fun restaurants. mean, I don't know. Oh, fair, the Puyallup Fair. That's like a huge thing in Washington. It's huge in Washington. It's not even called the Puyallup Fair anymore. They renamed it several years ago. State Fair. State farm. Yeah, so we had the Washington State Fair and that was, it's like a huge deal in Washington. It's like this massive, it's kind of like how, like what, rodeos are here? Yeah, cause I passed the rodeo already. And that's what it was, but not even- Not as big. It's a permanent fixture in Washington and they have a spring and a fall fair, but then they also do events throughout the year there. And it's just really cool. I don't know. It's kind of just a staple thing that everybody would do. And the scones like it just has specific food that you go there for work. Jessie and I, before we had kids, we when we still lived in the South would buy, they used to have unlimited tickets and we would go and just go for dinner. Yeah. You could like park at the mall and you could bus shuttle to the fair and we would go like for a week, like every day after work and. stuff we would go. Yeah, well because they have like a bajillion food vendors there too. So you could eat something different every single night. So funny. But yeah, Piala Fair is a big deal in Washington. If you guys didn't know, or Washington State Fair, you can look it up by either one. Everybody calls it Piala Fair still, as you can tell. I'm all the way to March 2022 when you guys texted me the sonogram pictures of the twins and then called me and I knew immediately and I think I was with my mom and my mom didn't know. That's why I texted it to you because I was like.

Wildlings Unleashed (57: 2:08

09.616) I sent it to you and to my mom and I didn't call because I knew I wouldn't be able to like, it in. And I was like, we should text it and see if like, see. like they know what's happening. Cause everyone knew I was pregnant. So it wasn't like I was revealing my pregnancy, but that's how I revealed that I was having twins. I knew immediately and just was freaking out. Yeah. that was 2022. March of 22. Yeah. Okay. And then we had all the twin stuff. Oh yeah, that's right. We found out right in Logan's like birth birthday month. Yeah. So I get so sick during pregnancy too. finding out that was pregnant, I was pregnant was a big deal. Cause like I said, we had started trying right when Logan turned one essentially. So we have been trying for a couple of years already at that point. And then we got pregnant and that was so exciting. And the doctors were laughing at me because I went in to get a verification of my pregnancy and they're like, I think the pee stick is enough. And I was like, no, it's not. Not when you've been trying for a while, not when like, this is like a big deal for you. And they're like, whatever. But it was a male doctor too. So I was like, cause it wasn't my normal doctor. But my normal doctor did do my ultrasound to verify like heartbeat, all that stuff, viability, you know? And she was like, you have twins. And she was like, why are you not reacting to that? was like, well, I kind of like, I mean, my mom's an identical twin. you know, I knew it was a high possibility and this is my second pregnancy. So I knew it was even higher. And she was like, okay. Cause she also had twins. So she was like- That's a funny story. Yeah. She was expecting like a reaction probably what she reacted, you know, where it was like, oh my gosh, or like crying or something. And I was like- Okay. And you were so sick. I feel like you were way sicker than when you were with Logan. Yeah. And so I kept saying, I'm like, you need to go in, you need to go in. And then when you sent me the sonogram, I was like, told you, like I knew there was something else happening. IV fluids. They were like, you come in one more time, we're going to have to hospitalize you because you are dehydrated. You're not keeping food in. You're looking malnourished. They're like, your babies are fine because they're going to get what they're going to.

Wildlings Unleashed (59: 2:13

27.824) They're gonna take. Yeah, they're gonna take it no matter what, wherever they need to take it from. They're like, but you're not. And so I had a really proactive doctor and she was like, come in every other day. Let's give you IV fluids. Like, let's do this like in vitamin bags or whatever. And, but that sucked. That really sucked. Well, and then my mom was here and I think- She visited for Logan's birthday. Yeah, and you guys, it took Cody a year to get transferred. to Boeing here. And so you guys were finishing up stuff in the house, but you couldn't do anything because you were so I was stuck out. I felt so bad. My mom would literally live with us. I've been trying to convince her to do that here in Texas, but she had to have Logan almost every day because I couldn't mom wasn't there. There was nobody to trade off. My mom ended up coming to help. Cody do like finish up the moving, like finished up the house project, things that were just whatever. And then packing and then like get you guys moved. Cause if I moved, just, you would just throw up. Yeah. So that was this crazy times. Yeah. It was, it was rough. It was rough. Um, and Alicia is so funny. Her her and her mom, we were preparing her car for me and everything with the puke we had the puke bucket in the bags and like wipes, we had everything ready because we couldn't go in yet. It was crazy. Yeah, it was rough. And obviously I was a high risk pregnancy too, so I had to like be super proactive about getting doctors when we moved everything. It was like a big deal. But. And then you guys moved and it was like Easter. Yeah, we moved right through because here's pictures of all the... And then the were together. Yeah. The kids have been together since April-ish of 22. Yeah. And so then all my pictures from then on are like very much all the kids. us. Logan started a preschool with Jamison. Yep, Jamison was doing an MDO program. Yeah, we tried that out. I ended up pulling her from it after a little while, just because I was seeing some regression.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:01: 2:18

37.508) going on with potty training, because she was fully potty trained already, like a year prior to that. And she was just having some regression and stuff. I was feeling bad that she was feeling like she was getting, I felt like she was getting, it was probably me feeling that way, because she liked preschool. She loved school. But I was like, you know, we're gonna not have time just me her anymore, you know? And so I felt like I should be keeping her closer. Yeah. Which is, if you guys can't tell, that's the trend with me. In June of 22, we went to the beach, went to a port day and we did the Jurassic world thing out there. We went out there because it was less busy than the San Antonio one. We got our house in May of 2022. You guys lived with us for a month because you guys moved. My mom moved to her mom's because her mom was Lurie living here right after us. And then you guys moved. We kicked him out. And then you guys moved in with us for a month. And we bought a house. And bought a house. were, okay, so you guys heard the story of how we bought our house while I was pregnant with, like we had the rehab and we were living with his parents with our house in Graham, Washington. So we felt crunched, like we wanted to be in a house before we had the twins. The twins. Because we felt like. our lives were in such upheaval while we were pregnant with Logan in her first year of life and we just didn't want to do that again. And so we were just like, we need, we need to get a house. that's just how we ended up with the house we have. Yeah. She rolls her eyes. In July of 22 was our first trip to Arizona. Road trip. Yeah. We did a Port A trip and did you say that? Yeah. And the Jurassic worlds. Yeah, that was fun. I'm just scrolling. Faster, let's see. We did lots of water play when we moved here that summer because we were dying I was pregnant twins and dying and could not go outside without blowing up. Yeah It was a fine balance. It a really hot summer finding things to do. we went to what's that part called up in New Bromwell's land a park. Thanks

Wildlings Unleashed (01:03: 2:23

46.48) Yeah, I think so. Yeah that park is amazing. Yeah, you guys are up there. So cool. We need to go back there again. This is all pre wildlings. Yeah. Yeah, haven't got to wildlings. Pre wildlings pre podcast obviously. Keep scrolling. Keep scrolling. Let's see. I'm almost ready to pop here in August. My stomach looks ginormous with my two babies in there. It's really funny because I felt huge when people were like, are you sure you got twins? I'm like, I am fricking sure. was like, don't even ask me that. Yeah, that's just so much on your frame. Yeah, yeah. I was like, I was falling apart at that point. We could have a whole episode about twin parties. Yeah, I think we actually have it marked down as something to go over, but they were born in September of 22. Yes, and here they are. All the babies. Logan was in love. She was born to be a sister. She still is infatuated with them. Like she's got a little bit more of that sister bond going on. So she's still got some sass with them, but loves them. Like literally would die for them. pretty sure she's so cute. Such a good big sister. I had a C-section with them too. So that was some fun healing time. That was also when I had the C-section when they discovered that the type of twins they actually were. So that was interesting. Yeah, which we'll do an episode on that. Yeah, it's like we don't have to dive into that. That's a whole thing. That could be a whole thing, because twins are fascinating. Yeah, here's Logan with the boppy again. The boppy we highly recommend for all, even if you don't have twins, even if you're not breastfeeding. Is a staple item. Yeah, here I did, I tried to. I tried so hard to do monthly pictures with him like I with Logan, because I did that all way And it was a whole thing. Every month. And it's a bigger deal though when there's two babies too. And I was like, my gosh. And it was such a big deal. And I think I got to six months and then I just couldn't anymore. It was just too much of a big deal. And I had to wait for Cody to be home to help me. was just, yeah, it was just such a hassle.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:06: 2:28

05.567) Let's see, we went to our first pumpkin patch here in 2022. We went to, I think we went to Maze. The graph. The graph, yeah, the graph one. They have like multiple names. It's in Hondo, I think. Yeah, that one was really fun with the zip lines and stuff. The girls were so tiny. Zubu here, which I actually really like. We did really like the Zubu. Yeah, they do trick or treating and costume contest. So much fun. Yeah. Highly recommend Zubu. We dressed up as Cinderella was our theme. Where are you at? I'm in 23. I'm there. I'm scrolling. I'm just like trying to pick out just the hot items of the years. So again, this is going to circle back to highly recommend. Did we talk about that actually? the balance bikes. Yeah. Highly recommend the balance bikes. And here's why. My daughter was almost, no, was this right before she turned four or was she four? She must've been four. She must've just turned four. She skipped over trainer, training wheels and went straight to biking. We were all amazed because Jamison, I think was like, barely, is he still on training meals? And then she got on without and just took off. I don't remember. I think they was right about the same time, but she's two years younger than Jameson. I was like, is it a year and a half? Two and a half. Two and a Yeah, I was like, two and a half, three. But yeah, so this is why I highly recommend not only because you will save yourself some money. had never seen anything like it. But also they just learned such incredible balance. Incredible balance and you can I could see that balance cross over into other things for her to yeah Bike riding the dirt bike riding the quads Dance like literally everything you see the balance crossover into so definitely recommend. I'm into cutest photo of Logan baby wearing her doll twin. Yeah, she had the doll twins. Yeah, I'm in April of 23 and We had family pictures again with the twins which we need to do again. we went to port a

Wildlings Unleashed (01:08: 2:33

22.854) Again No, not poor day South Padre. Yeah, you guys went to South Padre. I had to go to a family emergency But in May of 23 is when I must have started my sourdough starter Because I have dough rising here So that one my sourdough starters almost two years old which I was just complaining It just took me a week to restart my soccer to starter this time. I did family photo again. Yeah in 23 Let's see, I must have got my wagon somewhere in this right between April and. It must have been sometime in April then. we went to Houston also in April. yeah, my aunt came for their spring break. space station, which was so cool. That was really cool. I love the space station. I kind of feel like I need to go back because I don't even think we saw everything. Yeah. I started painting our bookshelves in our playroom. I say started because they're still not done in 23. And the reason they're not done, because they're like, They were so close and I was just cruising on them. Then my husband comes in and he goes, you know, I think we should just take this bookshelf out. I was like, they're still there though. And now I'm just like so annoyed every time I look at them. Cause I was like cruising almost done with them. And he's like, I think we should just take them out and replace them. And I was like, why don't I go through all the effort of making this like really well painted if we're just gonna rip it out in a year or two. Um in 23 is when I started my virtual assistance business that has grown Quite crazily in the last two years talking about that before the plug we started. Yeah quite crazy I had shut down my always be rustic custom home decor business because honestly I am a maker at heart and that was a hobby of mine and turning it into a business was a Just bad bad bad idea for me

Wildlings Unleashed (01:10: 2:38

17.823) Sometimes turning hobbies into business is great and sometimes it's just not. Yeah, my VA business is, I absolutely love doing what I do and I am going into my third year, I'm be going into my third year of having the business. Yeah, I started working with you a year after, so you're going into your second year of working with me. And her oldest contractor. Yeah, well that's why you're a team manager. But I was a stay at home mom for 10 years, had the woodworking business and then did this and then now I'm a work from home mom. Yeah, I did. So I kind of like, I guess I should talk about career wise since you just brought up your career wise. I had Logan, when I was pregnant with Logan, I had to quit everything. I was in real estate and I was a kind of like a contract. agent is gonna be the easiest way for me start, where people could hire me to show their homes for them. Other agents could hire me to show their homes for them, essentially. I work for Redfin. If you're familiar, you'll understand what I'm saying. But I had to just, I just was like, I'm never going back into real estate. I was so sick. couldn't, I could barely call the people to put anything on ice or get rid of it and cancel stuff. I was so sick with Logan and I was like, I'm just, I'm done. It was a good run. I loved what I was doing, but I was like, so just, know when you're just beyond and you just can't even comprehend what you could do in the future. So I was there. And then we got into our new house and Graham and I went back into real estate with the same company. Loved it. Was doing that as like a side thing because I wasn't doing it full time like I used to just because. We had a daughter. Yeah. Yeah. We to work around schedules. And Cody's crazy schedule. And then I got pregnant with the twins, was so, so, so, so, so, so sick. Knew we were moving to Texas, got rid of all my real estate stuff again. Yeah. And your mom was like, aren't you going to do it in Texas? It's like, frick no. No way. Yeah. It's like, I'm not doing it. Because the courses here are like quadruple. Yeah. It's not harder. It's like the same. more hours. Way more hours. Yeah. Yeah.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:12: 2:43

30.141) So it's like quadruple the time put in and it was more expensive and it's a lot slower real estate wise here too. So I just knew I wasn't, I was gonna be putting in more than I was gonna get out of it. I felt like, and I was gonna have more than double the kids. And so I just was like, nope, I'm not Cody's, know, he was gonna be making more. And we felt like we were in a good spot for me to just be dime. And I was, and then I get a year after the girls basically. Leash is like, Alex, you're gonna work for me basically. I pretty much did. My mom works with me sometimes too. have her do some projects. That's how Lesha does it. That's how she ended up dating Jesse. Yeah, I just tell people. I just tell them this is what you're doing and I'm so confident about it. They're like, I can't say no. It was actually really good timing for her though and she knew that because I was kind of getting like the girls were at a good point where I could pick up. something like that where it was like very little. I wasn't even working 10 hours I don't think initially for you. Well and that's part of kind of the whole thing with my business is I love, know, it's virtual assistant business. So we're helping moms and women in, they have small businesses. And so we do a lot of back in admin work and I like to work with women and moms. And then I like to also have women or moms on my team. So there's some people that are working, you worked in the middle of the night. for probably the first year. You were like in between feedings in the middle of the night. Yeah, I did a lot. I mean, the twins were waking up all the time anyway, so I was like, I'm up. So I was just really passionate about like helping and seeing growth. Moms need something. Yeah. And so a couple hundred dollars a month was really nice, you know, at the time. So. It was. And at that point, I wasn't even doing it for the money because Cody really does make. was like, I just was so nice to use my brain for something other than moming and like house management. So I was like, this is so great. This was such great timing because my brain was just feeling like fried at that point. I had gotten in a good groove with all the girls and I just needed that. and it was great. It was great. It's still great. Obviously I'm still working with Leisha.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:14: 2:48

42.751) with way more hours now. Yeah, and we've grown that you know, we have a team of four and me right now and and we have several clients and it's just it's a lot of fun. In September of 23 is when we started Wildlings. Is it? Perfect. We sunk up then. This was also the same time when I started working for her basically. Was it a time for no and the same time I'm like why we should just do this. No, I must have been working for you before that. because Wildlings is one year and I've been- it was a little bit before. Yeah, yeah. And you were like, we work so well together. We should do this We just do everything together. Yeah, it's like we shot. And so then that's when really, like the rest of my feed until today is gonna be a lot of content. And we've pretty much covered from like 23, we've gone on road trips. I've been scrolling through. We've done Port A quite a few times. We usually go around Logan's birthday because she always wants to go to the beach. Favorite. She literally always, she already asked again, are we going to the beach for my birthday? was like, I mean, that seems to be a tradition at this point. So I guess last year though, was so gross. Yeah. We didn't have good luck last year at the beach at all. We did our couple road trips to Arizona again. We went to Signature, which is a very fancy restaurant here. Highly recommend it if you want a food experience. Yes, I said experience. Because it is exactly There's no other way to describe it. The food was amazing, but it was literally like you have to, they bring you palate cleansers and they describe the food to you and how it was just. Swimmy. It was incredible. It was so expensive, which is why we have not gone back, but it was incredible experience and would highly recommend it. We even ate octopus and I would never under normal circumstances eat that. Just not because it's necessarily gross. I just don't think it's my jam. Sushi's barely my jam. And it was incredibly good. So good. You guys, I say it's really, really yummy. Yeah.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:16: 2:53

53.919) And that's how Cody's now, now he's like, sure, octopus. Like it's not the same. I wouldn't be able to do it. We went to Urban Air in September. Also. Yeah, Urban Air is not one of my favorites. I prefer Ground Control. I prefer Ground Control as well. chiller. I do know Urban Air is like the bigger of the two, like the more popular of the two. I recommend Ground Control. It's cleaner. can see it has. a better field of vision as a parent. And it doesn't feel claustrophobic in there. I felt borderline claustrophobic and so dark in there in urban air compared to ground control. All right, I'm pretty much at the end of 24. Logan dyed her hair pink. Logan dyed her hair pink. Logan did. asked me to dye her hair pink with the unicorn snot. Highly recommend that if your kid wants to try out a hair color by the way, because it will come out really easily basically. But yeah, she did her hair pink. Delilah wanted to do her hair pink too, but school. I told Logan we could maybe do the underside of her hair. I think that's a good stopping point, because the rest of this is kind of like- Pretty current. Yeah, pretty current. We've kind of recently went through some of this with our social media rehash. Lots of copy, lots of parks. Lots of it. All right, let's move into intentions for 2025. Okay, so we say intentions because we are not- big on goals and resolutions, guess. Nope. Is the right way to put that because I don't know. I don't know either why I just don't do goals. I just can't. I struggle with goals because I, I know why I struggle with goals. It's because if I do not complete it, even if there's a completely valid reason why I don't complete it, I feel defeated about it. You know? Like I will almost like bend over backwards, kill myself to make it happen. Yeah. And I don't want to do that to myself knowing that's how I am. just, I just don't do goals cause I just don't feel like I need to. I just, I, I don't know. I don't have a good explanation of like why I do just fine without goals. think because you're a winger. I am. And I'm more like a list. like intentions, I can make the list and like try to be intentional about those things. Right. and that's kind of like better for me. So I sent Alex, we, know, when you're on this like holiday break and you lose your brain for awhile. So this morning I was like,

Wildlings Unleashed (01:19: 2:58

19.815) my brain was back and so I sent her my list of like, this is what I'm talking about. Last night we were talking about potentially doing some camping trips. And so overall just having like more time in nature and just like getting out. Yeah, I know I was telling you last night, was like, know, the twins are kind of the only ones that haven't gotten to go camping at all. Yeah. like any of that kind of stuff. And I was like, and I just feel like I need to do that now that I've realized that. Yeah. So we might look into that. if you guys have any suggestions of places that you go camping, whether that's tent camping, trailer camping, or cabins, we're also looking for more hobbies, I would say. So maybe we'll start doing some girls hiking trips. Not necessarily hobbies as much as expanding our life. Yeah. More for us. Yeah. For us. Yeah. Not necessarily for the kids or for family. Yeah. As much as things for us to do. Yeah. So I'm thinking that we might get a a couple of us girls together and go do little like, you know, weekend mornings early and just like go do some hiking things. like, yeah, something like that. And we might expand this into like invitations for togetherness for our- Community. whole mom community. I think it would be super fun and moms need a time to chill and just- And that's been something we've been talking about doing for a long time too. So that's kind of one of our intentions is to try and- Somewhere we'll get to that too, but just like more time in nature and then we've been we've had a couple of backyard fire nights and my family just absolutely Loves that and so I would love to do more of that while it's in the colder seasons and safely right so dry right now and so we have to obviously be really careful, but Right and I kind of like one of my things is this year I felt like this last year, because we've been so sick and adjusting to school and I don't know why this year just has felt so crazy to me. This last year, not this year, because we're in a new year. But I really want to be more intentional with Georgia and Hayden, my twins, getting out with them or doing more intentional activities or things with them.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:21: 3:03

31.005) Because with Logan, I mean, as you heard, we went to the zoo all the time. did parks, we did everything. We did classes, we did you name it, it's us. We did it. Yeah, and then I also put on here to prioritize girls trips. So my mom and I were supposed to go to Houston for the Christmas party and we were gonna do an overnight and we ended up having to just move. She couldn't cancel the hotel, so we just moved it. So Delilah and her and I. went to Houston last weekend or just their, Friday night, just Friday night. And so we were like, we really don't love Houston at all. I mean, it was fun to go and just have those memories, but like Houston's not where we would ever go. So we were like, we need to do this again, but go somewhere better. so we have Waco on the list, to do with, Alex and Logan and then Delilah and I and my mom and another friend, And so I think we're gonna plan that. It's gonna happen in the earlier parts of the year, I think. It'll be super fun. Plus it saves Cody from going, because I'm not sure he's really interested. I'm sure Jesse doesn't want to go back. We went once and Delilah really wants to go back up there too. And he's we had Delilah plan, I think last year, last Christmas, we had her plan a whole trip to Waco and like places to eat and things to do. And we just never made it. So we'll have to get her back on that guys were kind of like Waco or New Orleans, because I remember you guys asked us and I was like, well, I guess let us know what you decide on. then just, yeah. I try to be really intentional when the kids have time off of school to like take them to go do things. And that, we did that for the majority, like for probably the end of 22 and then into 23. And then it just got a little bit harder towards the end of the year. Well, I just feel like 20, 24 has been. Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree, for sure. It was just a crazy year. And then back to just like more of the community building things along with like hiking and offering people to meet up and go with us. And some other things that we might need to. Yeah. We need to we need to flesh out how we would do it. to figure it out. But I think that we've got some good things in the works for this part of our life. Yeah. That we're doing as our kind of hobby and community building. another thing that we're going to hopefully do.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:23: 3:08

44.871) because we say hopefully because we were like, we're doing it. And we've been talking about it for a couple of months actually. Yeah. But we just never really committed. Yeah. We kind of missed out a little bit, but we're going to see what happens. We love coffee. This is no surprise to any of you. We've to so many different coffee places here in San Antonio. we both thoroughly enjoy coffee, not only just for the caffeine, but like I love the taste of coffee. Yeah. And I, I've grown to be like a little bit of a conno. I I even have my own espresso machine at this point. But I do want to also little tidbit in there is that San Antonio, we grew up in states that like coffee is just the culture. Yeah, literally. There's a coffee stand on every corner and it's not like a Starbucks on every corner. It's a mom, pop, like just a little coffee stand. Drive through. They're tiny too. And I'm telling you every corner. Yeah. I mean, yes, there's lots of Starbuckses and stuff like that, but there's a majority of them. There in Washington, people don't drink Starbucks. You drink coffee stand coffee. You'd find your coffee stand and that's where you go. Yeah. Like that's just how it was. So, and there was obviously a couple of coffee stands that grew to be bigger. That, yeah, that would have more locations. Yeah. But so coffee was like the culture. So moving here to San Antonio, we, the coffee is different here. There was. no coffee here when I first moved here. And then- And it's grown a lot though. there's so many more coffee Cause when I visited you guys, I was like, this is it for coffee. I really do we get coffee? Starbucks was super far away. It was just crazy. We've tried so many different coffee places. We're kind of coffee snob. I'll call myself a coffee snob. You can call yourself a connoisseur. Yeah. I like, I like to be a little fancy with- It's been rough finding good coffee we enjoy. I like strong coffee, but like, I still gotta be- good to, that's Like you don't wanna just taste like coffee grounds or straight Or too light of coffee. have a local coffee place, I'm not gonna mention, cause I don't love it, that is not making their coffee correctly. It is so light. It's like drinking water hinted with coffee. Like I don't even know. So it's been an adventure. Yeah. So- So that was why that has became like a huge part of Wildlings it's an adventure for us. Is because we-

Wildlings Unleashed (01:26: 3:13

05.505) are very serious. had actually a me, it was like a quote or something going out about finding the perfect cup of coffee. How that's our, like we're, that's what we're doing. And it really is. And that's because we came from such a huge coffee culture in, in Washington, Washington, Oregon, and even California would include in that grouping there. Like coffee is a big deal. Yeah. So a few weeks back I had come across something called the San Antonio coffee passport and I was like Alex look at this thing. Yeah, you sent it to me and I was like I literally was looking at that and looking at it. So they had good marketing but so we were like they knew who they were trying to reach. Yeah and from what we could tell a lot of the places in the passport book we hadn't been to and so some that we have. that. Yeah, we think after some sleuthing. Yeah, we think that they're in there, but we are adding this to our adventure for 2025. We went to buy the passport and it was sold out. It was sold out and they're like, get a notification when we're back in stock. And I was like, well, they did not anticipate that. I didn't think that was going to happen. So eventually we're going to have our passport. But apparently now we know it's like it must have been popular. People really like that marketing was able to make our own. If we can't get this one. Okay, how fun would it be to do a Wildlings coffee passport? Or just any everything. Passport. everything? Like we could do like divide like sections like a Wildlings book. Activities. Where you could get. Yeah, okay. These are how things happen around here. Yeah. But that's kind of what we have in store for us and Wildlings and Unleashed Moms is this coffee passport when we can get our hands on it. Yeah. We might just need to find somebody who has any of you like, can you please give us a list? Um, but yeah, we, definitely love our coffee and we're really excited about 2025 spending some more time outside. Um, just reflecting on the past. For, mean, we, we kept saying it was like five years, but it's actually four. Um, and just looking forward to rounding out this five years of 20 to 25. Um, and all the growth.

Wildlings Unleashed (01:28: 3:18

19.735) I mean, we are in year two of wildlings. We are looking forward to having a year of unleashed moms to growing that mom community. Cause I think we've gotten more into that now even more so. so we've got tonight, tonight we actually are today we've been, we've had a long admin day today, but we actually, figured out. we were having some tech issues with getting a guest on the podcast. We always have tech issues. We have a lot of tech issues. Today was a doozy. And today was more about like mapping it. It was just insane. But I think we have it figured out. So we're hoping to have a guest on very soon. And if you guys have any, but if you yourself want to come on the podcast, reach out to us. Cause we basically will be open for scheduling. Yes. Yeah. I'm so excited. I know. I'm so excited too. Here in February is probably when we'll officially be able to say that because we do have to wait for some equipment. Yeah. But we are very excited about it. We're going to probably bring on some of our family members. We have a list. The girls want to get the, Delilah has like asked over and over. She wants to come on the podcast so bad. And she's asked for Logan too. Logan's gotta do too. Yeah. So we'll probably have the girls on and We're just really excited about it. We're really excited about growing this. We're really excited about sharing more with you guys. But we're also really excited to potentially hear from more of you guys too. So we're looking forward to a year of more connection. We're looking forward to a year of- More adventure. More adventure, bringing more to the table with you guys. And if you guys have anyone that you also are like, would love to hear from this person. person's story. Yeah, share that with us and we will try and get them on the air. Yeah, I think it's going to be super great, but I think that that is all for today and we hope that you guys have started off your 2025 super. We hope that your December was not our December. Yes, that's and we hope that 2025 is just rolling into being a magical, fantastic year for you guys.